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Thought and Culturc 



BY 



CHARLES LAING HERALD. 



• » • 



Grand Rapids, Ohio. 

Azor Thurston. 

1904. 






LIBRARY of CONGRESS 

Two Copies Received 

JUL 6 1904 

Copyright Entry 

CLASS Cc XXc. No. 

n / ^ 3 4- 
' COPY B 



Copyright 1903 by 
Azor Thurston. 



^^- 






Dedicated to the. memory 

of 

Leonora Bradshaw 

whose 

beautiful and refined 

life 

devoted to the Master 

went out for Him 

in the 

Soudan, Africa 



Introduction 

by 

Fanny J. Crosby 



Introduction. 

During the month of August, 1901, 
while attending the Chautauqua Assembly 
at Tully Lakes, N. Y., it was my privilege 
to hear one of the most brilliant and fas- 
cinating lectures to which I have ever 
listened. The audience was large and 
appreciative. The subject of the lecture 
was ''Thought and Culture." From the 
commencement of the lecture every eye 
was riveted on the speaker; and when, at 
its close, he modestly retired from the 
platform, the round of applause that fol- 
lowed told the enthusiasm which his elo- 
quence had awakened. The lecture was a 
perfect success. Strength and beauty, 
power and sublimity, were among its 
peculiar characteristics ; each being made 
to fit to its peculiar place. In short, it 
was one of those rare specimens of genius 
which can stand upon its own merits. 
5 



Subsequently, while conversing with its 
author, Charles Laing Herald, whom I 
have the honor to rank among my choice 
circle of friends, I ventured to suggest the 
imperative duty that his lecture be pub- 
lished in book form, which I knew would 
be a stepping stone to his future useful- 
ness. I am happy to learn that through 
the advice of others also he has at last 
consented to accede to our request. 

This book speaks for itself. It needs no 
eulogy to adorn its pages ; and it is my 
earnest wish that I may be spared to place 
my wreath of laurels on the brow of its 
worthy author, and congratulate him upon 
the success of his labors. 

Fanny J. Crosby. 

Bridgeport, Conn. 
1901. 



Contents. 

Introduction, 5 

I. Definition of Culture, 8 

11. The Relation of Thought 

to Culture, 24 

III. Sources of Thought, 

1. Nature, 40 

2. Books, 54 

3. Persons, 61 

4. The Spirit, 69 

IV. The Influence of Ideals, 71 



I. 

Definition of Culture. 

Do you think that all the cultured 
people of the world live in Boston? I 
have met cultured people in Canada and 
Great Britain ; in Denmark, Holland and 
Russia; I have met cultured people even 
m France. Do you think that all the 
cultured people of America live in Boston? 
I have met cultured people in Baltimore, 
New York and Philadelphia ; I have met 
cultured people even in Chicago. 

You will agree with me, I am sure, 
when I say that we should understand our 
terms. Culture is a term not clearly 
understood ; consequently a term that is 
very much abused. Culture is character ; 
character strengthened, beautified, and re- 
fined. We may have character without 
culture, but it is not possible to have cult- 
ure without character. Culture, then, is 
8 



the strengthening, the beautifying, and 
the refining of character. 

Strength is completeness in all its parts, 
and weakness in none of its parts. You 
would not regard a character as strong 
if one of the cardinal virtues was lacking. 
He is a strong character, but he is dis- 
honest; he is a strong character, but he is 
envious ; he is a strong character, but he is 
useless. There is discord here ; there are 
contradictions here. Again, strength in 
all its parts is just as essential as com- 
pleteness in its parts. A union of all the 
virtues but weakness in the virtues des- 
troys the confidence of strength. The 
strengthening of character, then, is the 
broadening, the deepening, and the height- 
ening of what is strong comparatively, 
and adding what is lacking, until there is 
weakness in none of the parts, and until 
there is completeness in all the parts. 

There is beauty in strength ; the beauty 
of strength. But strength unrelieved by 
infinity, repose, moderation, and other 
elements of beauty, is not beautiful. Last 
summer I was boating on the Vermilion 
9 



river. The river ran between cliffs of 
solid rock at least one hundred feet high ; 
age, permanence, strength, were sug- 
gested ; storm and tempest, ocean wave 
and centuries of time could not remove 
those mighty cliffs. Now, take from 
them the moss and the ferns, the wild 
flowers and the shrubbery: take from 
them the music of the little streams of 
water running down, and the rainbows 
that danced and sparkled in the spray; 
take from them the refreshing shade and 
the welcome rest, and there is nothing left 
but a sad barreness, — strength but not 
beauty. So some characters. 

Why do you call that character beauti- 
ful? We are told that it is not possible to 
define beauty. I believe it. I have tried 
and failed. I find that others have tried 
and failed. We may, perhaps, be able to 
analyse beauty, — separate and name its 
elements. We may bring its elements 
together. Now, define, if you please, the 
combination, the synthesis. 

Any poem, painting, or character, that 
leaves a lasting impression, we are told, is 
beautiful. 10 



There is in beauty an element of infin- 
ity. Why is the setting sun so beautiful ? 
Is it because we are carried away we do 
not know where? We are carried out of 
ourselves. You have stood upon the sea 
shore? How suggestive ! What thoughts 
are provoked ! Oh, the vastness, the in- 
finity. We do not admire the char- 
acter that we comprehend at once ; there 
arc no depths, no heights ; limitation, fini- 
tude. When we reach the limit of a man's 
character our sense of beauty is gone. 

In a beautiful character we recognise 
the element of repose. We hear 'T am" 
from the Divine. We hear "I am becom- 
ing" from the human. W^hich is the more 
beautiful? The consciousness that we 
are in the path of rectitude, that we are 
established in rectitude, is repose. I am 
right is the strength of character ; it is 
also the beauty. This need not be ex- 
pressed to be seen and understood. Rus- 
kin says, *'No work of art can be great 
without repose; and all art is great in pro- 
portion to the appearance of it. Repose 
is the unfailing test of beauty ; nothing 
11 

L.cfc 



can be ignoble that has it, nothing right 
that has it not." What a picture the 
crossing of the Red Sea would make. 
Look at it. Which is the most prominent 
element of beauty in the picture? Let me 
suggest. "Stand still, and see the salva- 
tion of God." Am I not right? Repose! 
The divine Being has powers within 
Himself, — infinite powers. There is with 
Him always reserved power. What if 
He should exercise this power? He lives 
within Himself. He is goverened by the 
laws of His own being. We might do 
many things ; the doing of them, however, 
would be excess. We must restrain our- 
selves. We must live within law. We 
must live in harmony with ourselves, with 
one another, with nature, and with the 
Divine. Whenever we fail to do this, 
this is ugliness. Beauty is harmony. 
Ugliness is the opposite of beauty. The 
man who is out of harmony with himself, 
with God, is ugly. Would you say that 
the man who is not a christian is ugly? 
The lack of moderation is the destruction 
of beauty in everything; in color, form, 
12 



motion, thought, language, character ; in 
color, glaring; in form, inelegance; in 
motion, ungraceful ; in thought, undisci- 
plined ; in language, coarse ; in deed, dissi- 
pation ; in all, unchasteness. Infinity, 
repose, and moderation are three neces- 
sary and prominent elements in a beauti- 
ful character. 

Refinenment is the opposite of coarse- 
ness and vulgarity. It is somewhat diffi- 
cult for me to state the difference between 
beauty and refinement; there is a diffen- 
ence. Many men have strong sensibili- 
ties but are lacking in delicacy. They are 
deeply impressed with such beauty as 
they perceive, but they perceive only what 
is coarse and conspicuous. The man of 
refinement, on the other hand, has not 
only strength of feeling but also a quick 
and nice perception. He sees differences 
and distinctions that are lost upon others ; 
neither the most concealed beauties nor 
the minutest blemishes escape him. He 
has a keen sense and appreciation of the 
beautiful. He is a man with a refined 
taste. All men have some taste, but all 
13 



men do not have a refined taste. The un- 
refined are delighted with masses of 
bright colors, boisterous songs, sensa- 
tional novels and extravagant language ; 
such are to them correct representations 
of art and human life. Whereas the man 
with a refined taste seeks and finds the 
very best in nature, language, music, 
morals, religion, — in everything. When 
he looks into a picture he perceives the 
beauty in its finest shadings ; he is also 
moved by the moral qualities expressed in 
the beauty; and he makes these moral 
qualities his own. There is a keen per- 
ception and appreciation of the beautiful, 
a delicacy of feeling aroused by this per- 
ception of the beautiful, and the appro- 
priation of the beautiful into his own life. 
So also when he reads a good book, or 
meets a beautiful character; there is keen 
perception, delicacy of feeling, and appro- 
priation. I think that you understand 
what I mean by a refined taste. I am sure 
that if it means anything it must mean a 
general susceptibility to truth and noble- 
ness ; a sense to discern, and a heart to 
14 



love and reverence all beauty. 

This refinement is largely a matter of 
cultivation. Permit me, then, to enter a 
protest to-night against coarseness and 
vulgarity. Both are out of keeping with 
true culture. How many characters, 
otherwise beautiful, are marred, rejected, 
because of these unhappy elements. 

We all admire strength of character. 
We are all desirous of possessing strength 
of character. We believe that thought 
and character are the only realities in the 
world, except the Divine ; all else will be 
destroyed. And, yet, we have seen strong 
characters that we did not admire. The 
reason was lack of beauty and refinement. 
John Knox, the Scotch reformer, was a 
tower of strength. His power made the 
aflfable and charming, but deceitful and 
impure Queen of Scotland to weep, and 
her throne to tremble. But we do not 
care to have John Knox as our ideal. He 
was austere, severe, unrelenting. It is 
quite true that he was just the man for 
his day and age ; indeed, the day and age 
produced the man. We do not have such 
15 



men to-day simply because the influences 
at work do not produce such men. Great 
men, if not all men, are the product of 
their age. 

I think that no man, except it is the im- 
mortal George Washington, is dearer to 
the American heart than Abraham Lin- 
coln. When you think of Lincoln you 
think of a giant ; you think of a large, 
tender heart, lively, full sympathies, and 
a marvelous intellect; but at the same 
time you think of awkardness and a lack 
of polish. The life within him was 
allowed to grow without much thought 
of its culture. Lincoln was a thorough 
gentleman in heart but not in culture. 
He was too busily engaged in the service 
of his country to pay much attention to 
the niceties of life. Now, we do not lay 
much stress on polish when compared 
with the condition of the heart, — the con- 
dition of the heart is supreme. A man 
must be a gentleman in heart before he 
can be one in culture. We gratefully 
acknowledge the superior intellect and 
benificent heart of this great man ; while, 
16 



at the same time, we cannot help feeling 
some regret that he did not pay more at- 
tention to culture so that he might be our 
ideal in all things. 

While attending the University I 
roomed for two years with one of the 
noblest young men in heart you ever met. 
He was home-spun. He came from a 
small farm. He was poor. When in 
society he was utterly embarrassed ; so 
much so, indeed, that he did not know 
how to ask a young lady for the pleasure 
of escorting her home. A young man 
who does not know that much is not very 
highly cultured. We were at a swell 
affair together. I was horrified to see 
Jim eating with his knife. Next day I 
said to him, '7i^^> you should not put 
you knife in your mouth while eating." 
His reply was, ''Where shall I put it, in 
my eye?" The heart was there; the life 
and the spirit were there, but not culti- 
vated. I am happy to say that he became 
one of the most highly cultured gentle- 
men ever graduated from the halls of that 
University. 

17 



Someone has said that culture is the 
developing of the best that is in man. 
This definition would be accepted, per- 
haps, if we were convinced that what was 
in the man is the very best; if not it 
would be very unwise to develop it. 
Rather, culture is the filling a man with 
the very best ; the man assimilating this, 
making it a part of himself, bone of his 
bone and flesh of his flesh ; then living it 
out in a strong, beautiful and refined 
character. 

How many there are who seem to be 
under the impression that knowledge is 
culture. Knowledge is an essential ele- 
ment in culture; knowledge of nature, 
knowledge of good and great men, knowl- 
edge of the Divine. Culture without 
knowledge is impossible ; culture limited 
to knowledge is most undesirable. A 
man may be very intelligent and yet be a 
scamp. Some of the most villianous men 
whose lives have been a curse to the 
world have been men possessing large 
stores of knowledge. Those holding this 
view of culture declare, of course, that 
18 



culture is posssible for only the few, be- 
cause the knowledge essential to culture 
is attainable by only the few. Culture is 
possible for all ; is, indeed, the duty of all ; 
and the knowledge essential to culture 
is attainable by all. And, further, this 
knowledge is not the storing away in the 
brain a large number of facts ; nor is it the 
training of the mind to deep, clear, logical 
thinking; but it is the knowledge, the 
moral and spiritual perception, and ad- 
aptation, of the good and true. 

Then, again, you will agree with me 
when I say that there is a class of people 
called, and rightly called, the vulgar rich. 
They are everywhere ; we are annoyed by 
them everywhere ; we are amused by 
them everywhere. I was riding in a 
street car in the city of Chicago. The 
car was crowded. A lady entered ; a 
lady profusely adorned with gold and 
diamonds, and dressed in the finest gown. 
No one oflfered her a seat. She stood and 
scowled. Presently a gentleman arose 
and oflfered his seat. The lady bowed 
awkardly and said, "Thank you, you are 
19 



a gentleman ; all the rest is hogs." We 
were all impressed with the wealthy ap- 
pearance of the lady, but none of us were 
impressed with her culture. 

Furthermore, culture is the developing, 
beautifying, and refining of the whole 
man. We are not to be cultured in spots ; 
our whole beings must come under this 
gracious influence. Too little attention 
is paid to this specific view of culture. 
Our minds, our voices, our fingers are 
cultivated while other parts of our being, 
just as important, are suffered to take 
care of themselves. A young lady, and, 
by the way, a very pretty young lady, 
was sitting at the piano in my home one 
evening; she was rapidly becoming an 
accomplished musician ; her heart and 
soul were in the study of music. While 
she was sitting at the piano I asked her 
to play for me one of Chopin's composi- 
tions. Her reply was, "Gee-whiz! I 
hav'nt played that thing for a coon's age." 
After making this elegant and refined 
reply she charmed me with her interpre- 
tation of the soul of this great composer. 
20 



Now, you at once detect in this case a 
development in only one direction to the 
sad neglect of others far more important. 
I had it in my heart to say to this young 
lady: Will you not give at least some 
attention to other things as well as to 
music? 

And, now, I am convinced that you are 
not satisfied with my definition of culture. 
Will you be if I go one step further? 
Culture is not wealth. Culture is not 
knowledge. Culture is not the covering 
up of my sinful nature. Culture is not 
the polishing of my sinful self. Culture 
is the becommg of all that is true, pure 
and good. Culture is being, not having. 
Culture is a growth, not an accumulation. 
W^e become holy; this is life. I have de- 
termined to develop a strong, beautiful, 
and refined character. But how can I 
possibly succeed with this sinful nature 
unchanged? With it I am handicapped, 
defeated. If I try to cover it, it is bound 
to crop out. If I seek to polish it, the 
polish will rub oiT. If I attempt to des- 
troy it, it will ever raise its ugly head. If 
21 



I build upon it, the superstructure will 
totter and fall. Culture without regen- 
eration is an impossibility. In regener- 
ation the Spirit of God comes to us, des- 
troys this evil nature by giving to us His 
own divine nature. On this we build. 
The height of a pinnacle is determined by 
the breadth of its base. No character 
can be loftier than the breadth and depth 
of its foundation permits. In my Uni- 
versity town there was a large, magnifi- 
cent, catholic cathedral, unfinished. The 
foundation laid was not sufficient to carry 
the lofty spire intended. A character 
built on a nature not regenerated by the 
Spirit of God will never be finished ; but 
a regenerated nature is a sure foundation, 
and will carry the loftiest and most mag- 
nificent superstructure. Culture, then, 
is the strengthening, beautifying, and re- 
fining of the regenerated nature. 

Think of the strongest, the most beau- 
tiful, and the most refined christian char- 
acter, man or woman, that you have ever 
met, and you have my thought of culture. 
If you have not been so fortunate as to 
22 



meet a strong, beautiful, and refined 
christian character, imagine one, if you 
can, and you have my thought of culture. 



23 



II. 

The Relation of Thought to Culture. 



't>' 



What is the relation of thought to cul- 
ture? It is a vital relation. Culture is 
the product of thought. We are what we 
think. Let me take you to a dinner. 
The guest is a man given to appetite. 
The host is miserly. While the guest 
eats the host begrudges him what he eats. 
The host, however, must appear generous 
and hospital so says to his guest, ''Eat 
and drink/' but he does not mean it. 
Now, this man's character is not known 
by what he says but by what he thinks. 
The Bible tells us that as a man thinketh 
in his heart so is he. The stingy, insin- 
cere disposition of this man is the product 
of his thought. 

All that is seen was first the unseen. 
All that is in the material world was first 
in the world of thought. The material 
24 



world was in the mind of the Creator 
before it was in time and space. The 
material world is simply the expression of 
a divine thought. The dense forest and 
the delicate flower, the towering mount- 
ain and the grain of sand, the mighty 
ocean and the dew drop, all the expres- 
sion of a divine thought. So in regard to 
man : That house he built, that engine 
he constructed, that railroad he laid ; all 
were in thought before they were what 
now they are. 

Luther, the reformer; Gladstone, the 
statesman ; Webster, the lawyer ; Agassiz, 
the scientist ; IMcCosh, the philosopher ; 
and Hodge, the theologian ; all these men 
are the product of thought. These men 
thought they would be what they became. 
They determined to be and so they were. 

Here is a man generous and kind, gen- 
tle and forgiving, temperate and useful — 
anything or all that is good ; he is what 
he thinks. There is a man, a liar, 
gambler, impure, malicious — anything or 
all that is bad ; he is what he thinks. 
This is a great truth. A Spanish proverb 
25 



is, ''He who sows thoughts will reap acts, 
habits, and character." This is quite 
true. Our character is determined by 
our thinking. Change your thinking and 
you change your character. Let any man 
who is indifferent to his duty, unambi- 
tious, careless, useless, change his views 
of himself, of life, and of God, and within 
a year it will be said of him, What a 
change ! The converse is true. Let any 
man entertain unworthy thoughts and he 
will become intemperate, lazy, disrespect- 
ful, vicious ; and within a year it will be 
said of him. What a change ! How sad ! 
Our thoughts are the architects of our 
characters. These architects are un- 
ceasingly at work building or tearing 
down, strengthening or weakening, beau- 
tifying or marring, refining or making 
vulgar. 

I know a young man who a few years 
ago was with his father on a small, poor 
farm. A thought came to this young 
man ; it was encouraged ; other thoughts 
came and were encouraged. These 
thoughts took possession of him. He is 
26 



to-day one of the most highly educated 
men in the church, and holds an honored 
position among the missionaries of the 
Son of God. 

I know another young man, the son of 
a mechanic. He was heedless, unam- 
bitious, useless. Thoughts came to this 
young man from a young girl nobler than 
he. These thoughts were entertained. 
They did their work most effectually. 
This young man now sits in a professor's 
chair in a large medical college. 

I lectured in the city of Chillicothe, 
Ohio. I was entertained in one of the 
homes. My hostess showed me a picture 
of Lincoln's log cabin home. She 
showed me also, by way of contrast, a 
picture of the White House. What a 
change from the log cabin to the White 
House ! The thoughts of Lincoln carried 
him from one to the other. 

Joseph when a boy had dreams of 
future good and greatness. These dreams 
set him at the right hand of Pharaoh on 
the throne of Egypt. 

If I am an unbeliever to-night and 
27 



change my thoughts my changed 
thoughts will lift me out of Hades and 
set me at the foot of the throne on High. 

When Leonardo de Vinci was paint- 
ing his celebrated picture "The Last 
Supper," he saw in the choir of the cath- 
edral at Milan a young man whose face 
was most beautiful. This face was put 
into the picture as the face of the divine 
Saviour. For ten years Leonardo looked 
for a face to put into the picture as the 
face of Judas the traitor. In a prison 
cell in Rome he saw a face. This face 
was put into the picture as the face of 
Judas. While the crowds were admiring 
the finished picture it was discovered that 
the two faces put into the picture were 
the face of the same person; — the singer 
in the choir and the convict in the prison. 
Evil thoughts in ten years had wrought 
the change. 

If the great Plato is right all things in 
the universe arrange themselves under 
three terms, the Good, the True, and the 
Beautiful. The Good is the basis of 
religion ; the True is the basis of science ; 
28 



the Beautiful is at the base of all that 
appeals to the imagination. The Good 
appeals to the moral nature ; the True 
appeals to the intellectual nature ; the 
Beautiful appeals to the aesthetic nature. 
Which of these is the most important? 
Is one more important than another? 
Which is absolute? and which is relative? 
Which is the substance? and which is the 
form? Dr. Shedd declares that the 
answer to this question is vital ; so vital, 
indeed, that it decides the whole style 
and character of human culture, indi- 
vidual and national. Would you place 
the Good and the True first? If so this 
thought will produce a certain type of 
character and culture. Would you place 
the Beautiful first? If so this thought 
will produce a certain type of character 
and culture. If you place the Good and 
the True first the product will be sever- 
ity and strength, growth and grandeur. 
If you place the Beautiful first the pro- 
duct will be luxury and enervation, de- 
cline and fall. The Good and True are 
absolute; the Beautiful is relative. The 
29 



Good and the True are the substance; 
the Beautiful is the form. We must have 
the substance in order to have the form. 
Now, if we worship the Beautiful divorc- 
ed from the Good and the True the pro- 
duct will be, as I have said, luxury and 
enervation, decline and fall. This is just 
what the Greek did. The Greek had an 
intensely aesthetic nature, he worshipped 
the Beautiful, the Beautiful divorced from 
the Good and the True. The Greek in his 
adoration of the form lost sight of the 
substance. This was his misfortune ; 
this was his decline and fall. Emerson 
says : ''As soon as Beauty is sought, not 
from religion and love, but from pleasure 
it degrades the seeker." Men have 
sought beauty of form in women re- 
gardless of the good and true. Such 
men are sorry they had not been more 
thoughtful. We men will never learn 
that a beautiful behaviour is better than 
a beautiful form ; that it gives a higher 
pleasure than statues or pictures ; that it 
is the finest of the fine arts. The Greek, 
then, stands forth in the annals of history 
30 



as the lover of Art, the worshipper of the 
Beautiful — the Beautiful divorced from 
the Good and the True. The result has 
been most unhappy, the product most 
undesirable. The product, however, was 
the legitimate fruit of the Greek thought. 
I have just spoken of the Greek char- 
acter as the product of thought. Let me 
now speak of the Roman character. 
There is such a contrast between the 
Greek and the Roman, and such a 
lesson in the contrast. We admire 
the simplicity and the severity, the 
justice and the dignity of the Roman 
character. Would you look for the 
nobility and power of the Roman charac- 
ter in his aesthetical nature? I think 
not. Which is the greatest period in the 
history of Rome? The nobility and 
power of Roman character, and Roman 
nationality, is to be found before the 
third Punic war. The toughness and 
the hardness, the severity and the 
strength of the Roman character, that 
kept Rome alive during her home and 
foreign conflicts, found its origin among 
31 



the mountains, amid the great thoughts 
of nature, and was perfected by hard- 
ships in the forests of Central Italy. 
The intellectual and moral elements, not 
the aesthetic, lay at the roots of the pol- 
itical power and the greatness of Rome. 

Why, then, did Rome fall? Conquest 
led to the increase of wealth, increase of 
wealth led to the increase of luxury; in- 
crease of luxury led to the cultivation of 
the aesthetic nature ; and the cultivation 
of the aesthetic nature, apart from the 
Good and the True, was the fall of Rome. 
Rome conquered Greece, and by conquest 
Rome gained not only the domains of 
Greece, but also, to a great extent, Grecian 
thought. This acquisition of Grecian 
thought was the destruction of Rome. 

Let us now turn to France for evidence 
that character is the product of thought. 
The empiricism of Locke crossed the 
English Channel from England into 
France. This thought swept and devat- 
tated France as the plague of locusts 
swept and devastated the land of Egypt. 
The philosophy of Locke is materialistic. 
32 



The mind is void ; it does not have innate 
ideas ; the mind receives its ideas from 
the objective world; nothing is in the 
mind which was not first in the object; 
there is no thought apart from the sen- 
suous. Indeed, Locke did not hesitate 
to say that the material prevails over the 
intellectual. Indeed, he did not hesitate 
to say that the mind is material. The 
French carried the philosophy of Locke 
to its final analysis. Let me give to you 
some of the ultimate thoughts of this 
philosophy: Faith in God is as ground- 
less as it is fruitless : The world will 
not be happy until atheism has been uni- 
versally established : The soul is noth- 
ing but a mere name: Immortality is 
nothing more than to live in the thoughts 
of coming generations : Man is a perfect 
animal ; a brute is an imperfect man : 
Sensuous pleasure and pain, in other 
words, selfishness is a natural moral 
principle. What was the influence of 
this thought on the morals of France? 
Moral disaster, of course. Is it true that 
a man is what he thinks? If so, let me 
33 



give to you in a few words the product of 
Locke's empiricism in France. The 
social life of France became diseased ; the 
court became licentious ; the state sank 
into unbridled despotism ; the church be- 
came a hierarchy as hypocritical as it 
was powerful. In short, France became 
socially, politically, morally and relig- 
iously rotten. And this disgraceful con- 
dition was the product of the thought of 
France. 

There have been three sturdy classes 
of people in the religious and political 
worlds, namely, the Covenanters, the 
Huguenots, and the Puritans. To these 
people we owe much. These are the 
people who have saved the church from 
death, the state from chaos, and the 
world from destruction. Each class has 
left its impress upon the world's history 
and civilization. These people will never 
be forgotten because the world will never 
cease to enjoy the fruits of their lives. 
These people were the product of two or 
three clearly defined thoughts. 

No intelligent man will deny that re- 
34 



ligious truth, christian truth, is the basis 
of all that is good in art, literature, and 
the morals. The reception of christian 
truth is the reception of life, growth and 
grandeur — all that is strong, beautiful, 
and refined. 

The study of the influence of creeds on 
character is an interesting one ; in other 
words the study of the influence of re- 
ligious thought on character and culture. 
Creed is the formal, concise statement of 
religious thought and belief. It is with- 
out doubt a fact that different creeds pro- 
duce diflferent types of character. This 
goes to verify the statement that we are 
what we think. Dr. Warfield said, 'The 
type of religious life that grows up under 
preaching is determined by the nature of 
the preaching." That is to say, the type 
of religious character is in keeping with 
the nature of religious thought. This is 
so evident that no one will even think of 
denying it. 

We all know that the different denom- 
inations present different phases of re- 
ligious truth. Do the different denomi- 
35 



nations produce different types of char- 
acter? They do, indeed. This is so true 
that we readily detect the different types 
by their personal appearance. You can 
pick a preacher out of a crowd ; you can 
pick him out and tell to what denomina- 
tion he belongs. The Episcopalian is in 
the air, — upish, high church, apostolic 
succession. You can see the fire flash in 
the eyes of the Methodist. The Baptist 
goes about looking for water, and has a 
wet appearance. The Presbyterian looks 
to the earth, believing, ''once in grace, 
always in grace ;" thus he is sure of 
heaven so is attending strictly to the 
affairs of earth. The first schools of 
philosophy believed that air, fire, water, 
and earth were the beginning of all 
things. The Episcopal, Methodist, Bap- 
tist, and Presbyterian believe that air, 
fire, water, and earth are the end of all 
things. 

Abraham gave to the world Mono- 
theism, — one God. What an influence 
this one thought has had upon the civili- 
zation and culture of the world. Jesus 
36 



of Nazareth gave to the world the 
brotherhood of man. What an influence 
this one thought has upon the civiliza- 
tion and culture of the world. Martin 
Luther saved Germany, Switzerland, and 
the Netherlands with this thought : 
Justification by faith. John Knox 
saved Scotland with this thought: The 
Bible is the only infallible rule of faith 
and practice. Oliver Cromwell destroyed 
root and branch in Great Britain the 
claim for the divine right of Kings, and 
so saved the British Isles. The epochs 
of history, secular and religion, have been 
brought about by the introduction of a 
new thought, or the revival of an old one, 
in church or state. Every revolution was 
first a thought in one man's mind. And 
when the same thought occurs to another 
man, it is the key to that era. Every re- 
form was first a private opinion ; and when 
it shall be a private opinion again it will 
solve the problem of the age. 

I heard two men on the train discuss- 
ing politics. What an interesting and 
edifying discussion. The one was a 
37 



republican, the other a democrat. The 
republican said, ''Every criminal in our 
penitentiaries is a democrat." He 
offered to prove this rather startling 
assertion by betting five dollars. The 
money argument would, of course, be 
conclusive. This republican assertion 
made me think. I asked myself if there 
were any principles in the democratic 
platform that would land those in the 
penitentiary v/ho accepted them. If I 
become a democrat is the tendency of 
democratic belief toward the peniten- 
tiary? I know some democrats who are 
not in the penitentiary, — but they should 
be. Do the principles of the republican 
party, if they have any, tend to keep a 
man out of the penitentiary? I am sur- 
prised that more republicans are not in 
the penitentiary believing as they do. 

Thus, this truth that a man is what he 
thinks is recognized where you would 
least expect any truth to be recognized, 
namely, in the political world. 

Will my thoughts carry me where I 
think of going? Yes, they will. How- 
ever, do not overlook the fact that I 
38 



speak only of character. All these good 
and great thoughts are from God. He 
would not hold out to us impossibilities. 
And there is simply no limit to nor possi- 
bilities in this direction. I could not 
become a great mathematician no matter 
how much I thought about it and de- 
sired it. And, yet, it is possible for me 
to become a most worthy man. Not one 
gentleman in this audience may ever be 
President of this Republic no matter how 
much we may think about it and desire it. 
We may never be wealthy or popular. 
But what are these? Only means to the 
end, — the higher end of character. I 
refer, then, only to character. Whatever 
we think of being in this sense we may 
and will become. I may fail in other 
things ; I shall not in this. Here, then, is 
something definite, possible, certain for 
me. Whether I succeed in other things 
or not I shall not fail in this. Therefore 
my life shall not be a failure. Then let 
me look high. Let me build the founda- 
tion broad, deep, and strong, so that it will 
carry the magnificent superstructure ris- 
ing upon it as the months and years go by. 
39 



III. 

Sources of Thought: Nature. 

If thought has such an influence on cul- 
ture the necessity of having the best, and 
highest, and purest thoughts is self-evi- 
dent. If we are what we think then to be 
high we must think high ; to be pure we 
must think pure ; to be refined our 
thoughts must be refined. As I look 
over this audience I see the products of 
thought. If I knew you more intimately 
I could almost tell what you think from 
what you are. Is not this true? Some 
are high ; others are going higher. Some, 
perhaps, are low ; others are going lower. 
We are forever receiving impressions. 
All that we see and hear speaks to us. 
We are forever hearing voices from 
nature, books, persons, and the Divine. 
These voices are calling us to stronger, 
more beautiful, more refined lives. Other 
40 



vioces, I am sorry to say, are calling us 
away from what is good and true. We 
receive thoughts from this or that object, 
from this or that book, from this or that 
person, and from the Divine. These 
thoughts enter our lives and determine 
our character, and so decide our destiny. 
I walk out and see the sun and the sky, 
the horizon and the landscape, the flowers 
and the foliage, the shrubbery and the 
trees, the streams and the rivers, the 
lakes and the oceans, the mountains and 
the valleys. I hear the birds in the trees, 
I see the fishes in the streams, I see the 
cattle upon a thousand hills. And as I 
thus see and hear, I call to mind the 
words of the astronomer, ''Give me mat- 
ter and motion and I shall construct the 
universe." No, no, you cannot. If you 
had matter and motion you would not 
have life. Life is more than matter in 
motion. I see life everywhere ; rather, 
I see the manifestations of life every- 
where. Whence its origin? Life produces 
life, it is true ; but the non-living does not 
produce the living. The great scientist 
41 



Darwin recognized this truth. But when 
he went back, and back, to the beginning 
of things, where he should have con- 
cluded that life must have come from a 
self-existent Being, he stopped and said: 
''There is a great gulf here — a great 
gulf between the non-living and the 
living that I cannot pass over. I pass 
over this gulf; and in passing over this 
gulf I reach the Divine. He is self- 
existent. He is life. And He is the 
source of life to all created things. Thus 
even the recognition of life in nature leads 
me to the Divine. And the recognition of 
the Divine is the foundation, the begin- 
ing, of a strong, beautiful, and refined 
character. 

The hills have a wonderful charm for 
some minds. Byron said, ''To me high 
mountains are a feeling." Have you 
ever been among the hills? Have you 
ever stood at the foot of a mountain, 
looked up, and tried to look over? What 
quiet abiding dignity ! What stability ! 
The Divine is as the everlasting hills. 
Do you know that hill countries have a 
42 



marked influence on thought and culture? 
Moses, before his education was complet- 
ed, and before he was ready for the great 
work of his life, had to be sent from the 
Egyptian university to the wild, hilly 
country of Sinai. Moses lived for forty 
years in the presence of those rocky, 
craggy peaks ; in the silence and solitude 
of that awful place he learned lessons he 
would not have learned elsewhere, and 
he added elements of strength to his 
character he would not have added under 
other influences. 

You have heard, I am sure, about the 
hills of Scotland. — "The bonny hills of 
Scotland." Perhaps you have seen them. 
The Scotch have absorbed the stability 
of their hills. When Napoleon at 

Waterloo hurled his guard against the 
squares of highland soldiers he might as 
well have hurled his guard against the 
hills of Scotland ; his guard trembled with 
the shock and was shattered to pieces. 

Oftentimes our hearts ache because of 
the inequalities in life. I find that nature 
helps to heal my heartaches. As I go 
43 



down into the valleys and up upon the 
mountains I observe a slow but mighty 
law at work, — the law of levelling. The 
mountains and the hills are being washed 
down into the valleys, into the rivers, 
and into the ocean ; and the rivers, and 
the valleys are being filled. The mount- 
ains are being brought low, and the val- 
leys are being exalted. The observation 
of this law of levelling carries me in 
thoughts away from human ambitions, 
strife, and oppression ; to the time and 
place, when and where, all wrongs will 
be righted, the proud humbled, and the 
humble exalted. 

If there is one pleasure that I enjoy 
more than another it is a drive, or a walk, 
along the banks of a river. I prefer, 
however, to be alone. Between the hills, 
under a bridge, a river ran ; not a house, 
not a person in sight ; the sun had set ; 
the birds were singing their evening 
hymn ; lonely and sad I stood on the 
bridge, and watched the deep, flowing 
river. I heard a voice, "Oh, that thou 
hadst hearkened unto me, then hadst thy 
44 



peace been as a river." I was grateful 
for these words at this time. I determ- 
ined to hearken. Then there was a peace 
as a river. And, then, my thoughts 
carried me to a river clear as crystal flow- 
ing from underneath the Throne of God. 

Have you ever been at the sea shore? 
Have you ever crossed the ocean? I 
have, many times. Oh, thou unconquer- 
ed, unreposed, and untired ocean, we hear 
thy voice rolling like the wild, profound, 
eternal bass in nature's anthem. As we 
look upon thee and try to grasp, limit, 
confine thee our efforts return upon our- 
selves. And so we ponder upon thine in- 
finitude. And this infinitude of thine is 
a revelation, — revelation of thy Creator. 
And as we try to fathom thy depths we 
are reminded that His judgments are a 
great deep. 

Emerson says that in every landscape 
the point of astonishment is the meeting 
of the sky and the earth, — the horizon. 
This is very sugestive of thought and 
feeling. The effort of all good people is 
to bring heaven and earth together. Let 
45 



heaven touch the earth, and let the earth 
touch heaven, as sky and earth touch at 
the horizon. This thought aided by the 
clearer, fuller thought of the Incarnation, 
the God-man, lifts me, fills me. The Son 
of God came to earth. He became flesh, 
and he has taken human nature with Him 
to heaven. The Divine and the human 
are united in Him ; they are forever united 
in Him. In human form He sat down 
upon the Throne ; and in human form He, 
the God-man, shall remain upon the 
Throne forevermore. 

I could not pass the flowers by. You 
do not pass them by. In our walks we 
always stop to admire the flowers, and 
catch their odor. The flowers are mes- 
sengers of beauty, delicacy, and love. To 
Wordsworth, "The meanest flower that 
blows could give thoughts that do often 
lie too deep for tears." Little flower, I 
hold you here, root and all, in my hand. 
If I could understand what you are, root 
and all, and all in all, I should understand 
what God is, and what man is. The 
flowers have dried many tears, gladdened 
46 



many hearts, prevented many vicious 
deeds, and beautified many lives. 
Whence their beauty? The beauty of 
the flower, like all beauty, is derived. 
The flov^er derives its beauty from the 
sun. And as the flower takes its beauty 
from the sun, so we take beauty from the 
flower and add to our culture. The 
flower derives its beauty from the sun ; 
so we derive our beauty from the Sun of 
Righteousness. What the sun is to the 
flower, the Lord Jesus is to our souls. 

Now, do I not have a right to these 
thoughts from nature? Do I not have 
the right to make them mine for the pur- 
pose of developing, beautifying, and re- 
fining of my life? Agassiz saw markings 
on rocks in the State of Maine; these 
markings led him to the glacial period. 
Columbus saw pieces of driftwood 
brought to the shore ; this led him to 
America. Rubens accepts the sugges- 
tions of a few colors in nature ; and, now, 
the art galleries of Europe are adorned 
with his magnificent visions. Bethoven 
heard a few sounds in nature; and, now, 
47 



we can hear his heavenly symphonies. 
Now, if marks on a rock led Agassiz to 
the glacial period ; if pieces of driftwood 
led Columbus to America ; if Rubens has 
filled the galleries of Europe with mag- 
nificent visions suggested by colors in 
nature ; and, if Bethoven has filled the 
world with heavenly symphonies suggest- 
ed by sounds in nature, why may not 
nature lead me to the eternal Father, 
give to me visions of His holy habitation, 
and fill my soul with heavenly symphon- 
ies? 

I lectured in the city of Toledo, Ohio. 
I met a gentleman from Wisconsin who 
asked me if I had ever visited the Dells 
in the Wisconsin River. He asked me 
if I cared to know how he felt as he 
looked up through the caiions. "I felt," 
he said, '*as though I ought to fall on my 
knees and worship Someone ; give to 
Someone the credit for such magnificent 
workmanship." Thus thoughts from 
nature almost forced this man on to his 
knees, — a worshipper. 

I know very well that many persons 
48 



pass through this world without seeing 
any of its beauty. We may, of course, 
reach the end of our journey with a 
lantern ; but we shall not see as much as 
does the man who walks in the light of 
the sun. If the end of our journey is all 
that we seek the lantern will do ; but if 
we seek to enjoy our journey, and finish 
it with as much enrichment for ourselves 
as possible, let us walk in the full light 
of the sun. "Earth's crammed with 
heaven, and every common bush afire 
with God ; But only he who sees takes off 
his shoes : The rest sit around it and 
pluck blackberries" — Mrs. Browning. 
Other persons see only the utility of 
the world ; they see only what it yields 
for themselves in a lower sense apart 
from culture. Well, I must admit there 
is much in nature for the Utilitarian. 
See that pig wallow ! hear him grunt ! — 
ham and eggs. The cattle upon a thous- 
and hills, — sirloin steak smothered in 
onions. What a pretty sight is a flock of 
sheep! — boiled mutton and caper sauce. 
See that flock of geese vSwaggering to- 
49 



wards the pond for divers reasons? see 
them coming out of the pond for sundry 
reasons? — goose and apple sauce. Thus 
we may view nature from the different 
sides of our own natures. The objective 
world touches the nature of man every- 
where ; and from whatever side of our 
nature we seek, we find. The study of 
nature for the purpose of culture is fruit- 
ful and rich. She has much for us. It 
is well to commune with her at times. 
Nature has many great, grand, beautiful 
thoughts for those who will listen to her 
voice. Sometimes let us go away from 
ourselves, from one another, from the 
superficial ways of society, and from the 
bread and butter of life. Let us go 
where the birds live and sing; where the 
trees and shrubbery grow and utter their 
silent messages ; where the streams and 
rivers run and sparkle ; and where the 
hills rise up to welcome us to their pres- 
ence. There are messages here ; God is 
here, and here we shall oftentimes find 
the depths of our own beings. "One 
impulse from the vernal wood may teach 
50 



you more of man, of moral evil and of 
good than all the sages can." — Words- 
worth. 

But this is not all that I mean by our 
surroundings. I include also our homes. 
We cannot enter a home without re- 
ceiving impressions though a word is 
not spoken. We must not deny the in- 
fluence of a refined home on thought and 
culture. I mean what is in the home ; 
not the persons in particular, but the fur- 
nishings. It is not possible for us all 
to have elegant homes ; and, besides, an 
elegant home is not essential to culture, 
although very helpful. Ben Johnson, the 
English writer, was poor, and lived in an 
alley. One of Johnson's enemies re- 
marked to a friend of his, "Why Johnson 
lives in an alley." When Johnson heard 
of this unkind remark he said, '*Go tell 
that man that his soul lives in an alley." 
Now, if we are obliged to live in homes 
that are not very elegant this is no reason 
why our souls should live in an alley. 
Sometimes we find the purest and sweet- 
est characters in very humble homes, 
5X 



However, such homes as we have, let 
them be to us all that is possible. Let 
our own rooms in which we spend at least 
a third of our lives suggest to us all that 
is clean, pure, and religious. We cannot 
separate the pure and the good from the 
beautiful. If we dwell habitually among 
beautiful thoughts we shall become im- 
bued in mind and feeling with their 
beauty. The silent influence of a single 
aesthetic object does more to refine a 
character than a houseful of spurious im- 
itations, gaudy knacks, or silly novelties ; 
hence the force of Tennyson's lines : — 

"To look on noble forms makes noble, 
through the sensuous organism. That 
which is higher." 

I would like to speak a word of warn- 
ing to parents against the careless way 
many have of furnishing and keeping the 
rooms of their children. Many parents 
seem to think that anything is good 
enough for the children, especially for 
the boys. This is a sad, fatal mistake. 
The boy enters his room ; bare floor, per- 
haps ; no pictures on the walls, no books 
52 



on the table, the furniture not dusted, 
the bed not made, the lamp chimney as 
black as night. How empty ! How un- 
inviting ! How lonely ! Nothing here 
to hold the boy ; nothing here to influence 
him for good. There is no message here 
of self-control, purity, religion. He will 
not stay. He will go where he is wel- 
come. He will go where there is bright- 
ness and cheer. He will go where he will 
hear messages of intemperance and im- 
purity, messages of vulgarity and pro- 
fanity. He will go where there are pic- 
tures on the walls, pictures, the sugges- 
tion of which, will leave the trail of the 
serpent across his soul. 

We do live our thoughts. We are 
what we think. We are to a very great 
extent the counterparts of our environ- 
ment. 



53 



IV. 
Sources of Thought : Books. 

A man is known by the books he reads 
as well as by the company he keeps. In- 
deed, books are largely our company, and 
their influence is very marked. Let me 
speak of good books only. It seems a 
waste of time to speak to those who are 
so superficial and so unpromising as to 
read books that are not good. Senti- 
mental, superficial reading produces such 
thoughts, and such thoughts produce 
such characters. 

The influence of an evil book cannot be 
estimated. How many persons have 
been deceived, destroyed by them. They 
poison the mind ; they pollute the heart ; 
they incite to evil ; the end is death. Let 
me simply remind you of the power of an 
evil book, and the destruction they work. 
1 refer especially to. a book entitled **The 
54 



Prince," written by Machiavelli, an 
Italian. This book in its day worked 
such wide spread destruction that its 
author has been called ''the tempter;" ''the 
Evil Principle ;" "the discoverer of ambi- 
tion and revenge ;" "the inventor of per- 
jury." It is said that before the publica- 
tion of this book there had not been "a 
hypocrite, a tyrant, a traitor, a simulated 
virtue, or a convenient crime." The 
underlying principle of the book is that 
the end justifies the means. Reputable 
authors and historians attribute to the 
influence of this book the following 
crimes : Maurice of Saxony learned all 
his fradulent policy from this book: 
Since it has been translated into Turkish 
the Sultans have been more addicted than 
formerly to the custom of strangling 
their brothers : The manifold treasons 
of the House of Guise and the massacre 
of Bartholomew are to be attributed to 
this book, and even the Gunpowder Plot 
is the fruit of this one volume. Such a 
display of wickedness, naked, yet not 
ashamed, such cool, judicious, scientific 
55 



atrocity as is exhibited in this book seems 
to belong to a fiend rather than to the 
most depraved of men. 

The Alexandrian Library contained 
seven hundred thousand volumes. Schol- 
ars have heaped execrations upon the 
head of the man who is said to have burn- 
ed it. Modern discoveries, however, go 
to show that God must have interfered 
and overwhelmed these works of ancient 
civilization as He interfered and over- 
w^helmed the cities of Sodom. 

The geologist will take you to some 
rock formation, and will show you mark- 
ings in the rock made by the waves, the 
track of birds, the print of leaves, the 
trail of worms and serpents. These 
markings were made in the mud. The 
sun hardened the mud into rock, and the 
rock has held these markings through all 
these centuries. So every evil book read 
by us leaves its mark upon our beings ; 
these marks become a part of our beings. 
Will the centuries erase these despicable 
markings? I sincerely hope so, but I am 
afraid of it. 

56 



Let us turn away from this unpleasant 
phase of our subject. Let us go into our 
own libraries where only the best books 
find a place. Let us close the door and 
spend an hour or two with the most 
highly cultured men and women the 
world has ever produced. We are per- 
mitted to enter their presence ; none are 
excluded. They will entertain us, speak 
to us ; they will give to us their most 
beautiful, helpful thoughts ; they will 
express to us their most refined feel- 
ings ; they will extend to us their most 
profound sympathies ! they will permit 
their spirits to touch our spirits ; and they 
will pour their souls into our souls. 
Many of these men and women are long 
since dead, but from their urns they rule 
our spirits. Homer, Horace, Virgil, 
Dante, Milton, Tennyson, and Long- 
fellow will recite their poems. Plato, 
Aristotle, and Descarte will teach their 
philosophy. Shakspeare will present 
his immortal dramas. Motley, Carlisle, 
Macaulay, and Bancroft will tell us about 
the great events of the world's history ; 
57 



while Thomas a Kempis, Jermy Taylor, 
Fenelon, and Doddridge will lead us into 
the mysteries of godliness. These men 
are not dead. They shall never die. 
Many of them, if not all, are more alive 
to-day than they were centuries ago, and 
their lives are more potent for good. We 
have fallen heir to all these men and 
women thought and were ; to all the rich- 
ness of thought, feeling, and being. But 
we enter into this inheritance only by 
reading their works. 

What an inspiration is a good book? 
How helpful they are ! Blessed be good 
books! As Emerson says, "Give me a 
good book, health and a June day and I 
shall make the pomp of kings ridiculous." 
So he might. Coming under the influence 
of the best minds means receiving the 
best thoughts, and this means the highest 
character and the noblest life. 

If you wish to be inspired to better liv- 
ing by the example of good men read 
Plutarch's ''Lives of Illustrious Men." 
If you wish to see God in the vegetable 
world read Grant Allen's "How Plants 
58 



^1 



Grow." If you wish to be convinced of 
the wisdom of God walk with Agassiz 
through the animal kingdom. If you 
wish to hear the rocks, hills, and moun- 
tains bear their testimony to the exist- 
ence, power, and goodness of God, listen 
to Hugh Miller as he interprets to you 
their testimony. If you wish the history 
of this country with all its lessons recited 
to you by a master mind, live for a time 
in the presence of Bancroft. If you wish 
to follow the light of revelation up to the 
Throne of God, and understand more 
clearly the depths of Divine love, and feel 
more fully the workings of Divine power 
in the realm of redemption, read Calvin, 
or Hodge, or Shedd, or Strong, or Wat- 
son. If you wish encouragement and 
comfort, and light for every day living 
read Myers, or Murray, or Miller, or 
Drummond. And if you wish to come 
into living, sanctifying contact with the 
incarnate Son of God read the Gospels. 
Thus instead of living under the influence 
of the ignorant, superficial and unworthy, 
you will live under the influence of master 
59 



minds ; and master minds produce master 
thoughts, and master thoughts produce 
master lives. 

Perhaps you will say that all this is for 
the few, not for the many. Indeed, I 
anticipated that objection, and made up 
my mind in presenting this subject I 
would keep within the bounds of the 
possible and practicable. What is here 
suggested is for all ; if you have the in- 
clination, the opportunity is yours. 



60 



V. 

Sources of Thought: Persons. 

The thought of some writers is not so 
clear. Take the following: "Nature is 
loved by what is best in us. It is loved 
as the city of God, although, or rather 
because there is no citizen." What 
author did I quote? Well, never mind. 
What is the thought of Emerson here? 
Does he mean to say that we would love 
nature more if man were not a part of 
nature? Well, I might, but I am sure 
that a woman would not. Go where you 
may and you find man ; he is a part of 
nature. Man is an object of curiosity, 
astonishment, and sometimes admiration ; 
more times he is an object of pity. The 
flowers and the trees, the rivers and 
oceans, the valleys and mountains have 
their influence on thought ; so has man. 
\\^as it not Tennyson who said : 'T 
61 



become a part of every man I meet?" 
This may be an extreme view. It can 
be said that we become a part of every 
object that we see ; every object in nature 
suggests some thought, — the mountain, 
stability; the ocean, infinity; the river, 
peace ; the flower, delicacy and love. 

Perhaps Tennyson is right. Certainly 
one man has a mighty influence over 
another. I am thinking about society, 
and companionship. We are deeply, and, 
perhaps, permanently influenced by the 
society in which we live, move, and have 
our being. I do not wish to quote this 
Scripture irrevently, but the thought is so 
true and applicable here. We do, indeed, 
receive our being from the society in 
which we live and move. I wish that I 
could have you understand, if you do not, 
what a force society is in giving to us 
thoughts of life and character. Our souls 
insensibly take in virtue or vice by the 
example or conversation of good or bad 
company. Thoughts are expressed, man- 
ners seen, deeds done, and a general de- 
portment manifested that leave their im- 
62 



presslon upon us. Superficial thoughts, 
coarse conversation, vulgar manners will 
have their due efifect. As one v^riter says : 
'Intercourse with even commonplace, 
selfish persons will prove most injurious 
by inducing a dry, dull, and selfish con- 
dition of mind more or less inimical to 
true manliness and breadth of character." 
This is quite true. And I would add that 
the opposite effect is produced by the 
society of the true, pure, and good. I 
have gone from the presence of friends 
with the most intense longings for a 
beautiful life. I have gone from the pres- 
ence of others with the profoundest dis- 
taste for what is coarse, vulgar, and 
wrong. But, unfortunately, this reaction 
against the wrong does not always follow. 
Live with persons of elevated character 
and you will be lifted ; but, as the Spanish 
proverb says: "Live with wolves and 
you will learn to howl." 

We must have society because we are 

social animals. But what society shall 

we have? We breathe a certain social 

atmosphere. The air we breathe enters 

63 



the blood and becomes a part of our 
beings. The flowers take their coloring 
from the sun. We take our coloring 
from the society in which we move. 
Society is the mould in which our charac- 
ters are being formed. We set our tables 
as others do. We eat after the same 
fashion. We laugh at the same jokes. 
We enter or retire from a room after the 
same manner. We dress, or go half un- 
dressed, according to custom. Indeed, 
our whole lives are influenced by the 
society in which we live. The thoughts, 
words, sentiments, actions, manners, and 
general tone of the society in which we 
live are rapidly becoming a part of our- 
selves, and determining our culture. 

Let me speak more particularly about 
friendships. "A faithful friend is the 
true image of the Deity." *'Good com- 
pany is the very sinew of virtue." *'He 
that walketh with wise men shall be 
wise." George Elliot said of a distin- 
guished man: ''Each epoch in his life 
could be distinctly marked by the intro- 
duction of a new friend." What an in- 
64 



fluence! The old fable, "I was common 
clay until a friend planted roses in me." 
is full of truth. Mrs. Browning asked 
Charles Kingsley for the secret of his 
life in order that she might try to make 
hers beautiful. His reply was: "I had 
a friend." A friend is for the purpose of 
giving to us the best that he has, and for 
the purpose of bringing out in us the very 
best that we have. 

You will find the following sentence in 
the writings of an American author: 
''Our destiny is determined by our friend- 
ships." This appears from observation 
to be true. How many have decided 
their destiny by their friendships. The 
influence of companionship on character 
is simply beyond estimation. Did you 
ever know a great man but what owed his 
greatness largely to others greater than 
he ? You never did. Did you ever know a 
man that had made a miserable failure of 
life but what had been helped to failure by 
others worse than he? You never did. 
Therefore we cannot be too careful in 
forming our friendships. Wq are not to 
65 



keep an open door like a street car to all 
who may care to enter. We must, of 
course, be courteous to all, but all must 
not claim our friendship. We are imitat- 
ors. We learn more in the school of ex- 
ample than we learn in any other. Indeed, 
Burke asserts : ''Example is the school 
of mankind, and they will learn at no 
other." Nothing is so infectious as ex- 
ample. Two neighbors owned parrots. 
One parrot had been taught to sing 
hymns ; the other had learned to swear. 
The neighbors agreed to hang the cages 
near to each other so that the parrot which 
swore might cease to swear and learn to 
sing hymns. The result was most dissa- 
pointing. The parrot that sang hymns 
ceased to sing hymns and learned to 
swear; while the one that swore refused 
to sing hymns, and became more profane 
than ever. This was the power of asso- 
ciation. However, it worked the wrong 
way as it generally does. I know 
parents, christian parents, who allow 
their children to associate with doubtful 
children in order that they may elevate 
66 



them. I have seen the sad resultant of 
such unwise and dangerous experiments. 
No man, let alone a child, unless he is 
most firmly established, can be in the 
presence of a coarse, vulgar, vicious man 
or woman without being degraded. Shun 
the coarse, vulgar, vicious if you are at 
all anxious for culture. 

It is so easy to be good while with some 
persons. They expect beautiful things 
of us. Consequently we do not dis- 
appoint them. Their presence is a con- 
tinual inspiration. I met a young lady in 
Illinois. We were talking about friend- 
ships. She said to me "^Ir. Herald, I 
made up my mind long ago that if I could 
not have a friend who would be a positive 
help to me in my life, I would not have a 
friend at all.'' Now, I admired that 
young lady very much for that senti- 
ment. You will not be surprised wdien I 
tell you that that young lady is to-day one 
of the sweetest and most beautiful char- 
acters you will find. I know other young 
ladies who refused to give up doubtful 
associations ; their lives are blighted, 
67 



Live in solitude all your days rather than 
take into your life an associate who is not 
good, whose influence would mar and soil 
your purity of soul. He who would pol- 
lute you is not your friend. The friend 
that does not help you to a better life is 
not worth having. 



68 



VI. 

Sources of Thought: The Divine Spirit. 

I am sure that you will agree with me 
when I say that we would be stupid, 
indeed, if we failed to recognize the in- 
fluence of the Divine Spirit upon our 
minds and hearts. He is in the world. 
He is the mightiest force in the world for 
culture. He, the Spirit, touches our 
spirits ; and He touches our spirits as no 
one else can. He is ever present ; He is 
ever round and about us ; He is ever in 
us. We are now convinced, I think, that 
the influence of thought on culture is 
almost infinite. What thoughts we re- 
ceive from Him ! If we ever have reve- 
lations they are from Him ; if we ever 
have dreams of future good and greatness 
they are from Him ; if we ever have 
glimpses of the King in His beauty the 
Spirit gives them ; if we ever have visions 
69 



of the majesty, holiness, and truth of 
God, the Father, so that our souls are 
purged from sense and sin, the Spirit 
gives them. He throws light on the path 
of duty. He fills us with the determ- 
ination to walk in the path of duty ; and 
He strengthens our spirits so that we are 
able to walk in the path of duty. How 
we feel Him stirring at our hearts ! 
What mighty impulses to right doing! 
He is continually presenting to our minds 
and hearts the highest, the noblest, the 
truest type of culture. And the highest, 
noblest, truest type of culture is the Man 
of Galilee. Let us, then, encourage the 
presence of the Spirit; obey His voice, 
follow his leadings, and he will fill us 
with thoughts divine; and he will help us 
to work these thoughts into our beings. 



70 



VIL 

The Influence of Ideals. 

This address would not be complete 
without a brief reference to our ideals. 
We have our ideals ; unconsciously, per- 
haps, but we have them. So much 
depends on our ideals. The thoughts of 
our ideals yield a mighty influence on 
character. Young men of generous 
minds have their heroes ; nations have 
their heroes. If not our poets would in- 
vent them for the inspiration of our youth. 
Who is your ideal? Who is your hero? 
I had an ideal once : A man with a sun- 
burnt face, hands stained with tar, the 
sailor's roll to his walk ; who could splice 
a rope and spin a sea yarn. This ideal 
influenced me mightily for a time. How- 
ever, I rose above it. Then my soul went 
out in ardent desire to be a man who, 
standing upon the public platform, could 
71 



sway the crowds with his eloquence. 
But I have been forced to admit that this 
is an impossible ideal for me. Therefore, 
I have risen above. One morning before 
the sun had given any intimation of his 
coming I stood upon a foreign shore ; and, 
as the southern sea rolled and broke at 
my feet, I took off my hat, bowed my 
head, and promised God that if he would 
open the way for me through university 
and seminary, and make me a clear, 
forcible preacher of His eternal truth, I 
would not ask anything more in this life. 

"In youth, beside the lonely sea, 
Voices and Visions came to me; 

In every wind I felt the stir 
Of some celestial messenger." 

Shall I say that I have risen above that 
ideal? To-day I see as the end of my 
being the Man of Galilee. The desire of 
my heart is to be good. And the Man of 
Galilee is my ideal of goodness. He is 
the strongest, the most beautiful, the 
most refined character that has ever in- 
spired this world. He is the highest 
possible type of culture. 

72 



Let me say in conclusion, although we 
do our best, thoughts that injure will 
enter ; they intrude themselves ; they 
hinder, they blight. Sometimes the 
flowers are nipped by the frost ; they drop 
their leaves ; they lose their bloom ; they 
hang their heads ; their life has been 
hindered, blighted. However, the sun- 
shine, warmth, and moisture start the 
life again. They put forth new leaves, 
they bloom afresh, they lift their heads. 
So our lives are hindered, blighted by the 
intrusion of unworthy, evil thoughts. 
We lose the buoyancy, and the bloom, 
and the sweetness of our lives ; we hang 
our heads. However, we come again 
into the sunshine ; we lift our heads, and 
our lives are stronger, more beautiful, 
and more refined than ever. 

Please remember this law in the physi- 
cal world, — the attraction of the sun. 
The nearer an object is to the sun the 
greater the power of the sun's attraction 
upon the object. The nearer we live to 
the Sun of Righteousness the greater is 
His power in us for character and culture. 
73 



I 



.lif 6 1904 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




III 



